https://congo.wcs.org RSS feeds for WCS Congo 60 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25758/First-Scientific-Inventory-of-Reptiles-and-Amphibians-Conducted-at-Lac-Tele-Republic-of-Congo#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25758 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25758&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25758/First-Scientific-Inventory-of-Reptiles-and-Amphibians-Conducted-at-Lac-Tele-Republic-of-Congo In the heart of the flooded forest of northeastern Republic of Congo, the Lac Télé is one of the planet's last natural mysteries. Terre Sauvage magazine devoted a lengthy article to it, as this almost inaccessible site is better known for its raw beauty than for its biodiversity. The author, Thomas Nicolon, recounts the human and scientific adventure undertaken in 2024 in the Lac Télé Community Reserve by a team of scientists who carried out the very first inventory of reptiles and amphibians there. This mission, organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society in collaboration with local communities, aimed to census the region's reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Mon, 24 Nov 2025 08:51:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25758 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24958/Three-new-butterfly-species-discovered-in-Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24958 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24958&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24958/Three-new-butterfly-species-discovered-in-Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park The African Natural History Research Trust recently identified three new butterfly species in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, located in northern Republic of Congo: Falcuna nouabaleensis, Anthene sangha, and Neurellipes smithi. Butterflies are key indicators of forest health. These discoveries enhance our understanding of the biodiversity in this region, nestled between the Sangha and Congo Rivers, and highlight the importance of conserving these ecosystems. Tue, 30 Sep 2025 07:49:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24958 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24917/Gorillas-in-Congos-Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park-Scratch-the-Ground-for-Truffles-Not-for-Insects-as-Long-Assumed#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24917 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24917&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24917/Gorillas-in-Congos-Nouabale-Ndoki-National-Park-Scratch-the-Ground-for-Truffles-Not-for-Insects-as-Long-Assumed A scientific paper recently published reveals that soil scratching by gorillas in Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park is a foraging strategy to access a species of deer truffle, identified as Elaphomyces labyrinthinus, and not insects, as long assumed. These findings were developed by Gaston Abea, who became the first Indigenous Person in Ndoki to become the lead author of a peer-reviewed scientific paper.  This truffle gorilla foraging behavior seems to have social implications: While not all gorilla groups engage in it, some individuals may give it up or resume it when they migrate from one group to another, allowing for more insights into their social structure. Abea drew on his traditional knowledge and tracking skills to document this behavior in detail. After a decade of observations, Abea and research teams at Mondika and Goualougo field stations were able to eventually collect specimens of the food item foraged by the gorillas scratching the ground for taxonomic identification. Ultimately, this research led to the recent publication in Primates. “My people's traditional knowledge of these forests is endangered by modern lifestyles but is proving invaluable in continuing to study and preserve these ecosystems,” said Abea.  Abea is one of a 100+ Congolese Research Assistants trained at Ndoki since 2005, a growing number of whom come from neighboring villages, and from Indigenous Ba’Aka communities.  “Our ancestors used to hunt gorillas, now we protect them, and I hope to inspire other Ba’Akas to do the same,” said Abea. Born in Bomassa, the closest village to the park, Abea is of the semi-nomadic Bangombe people. He has been working for the park since 2000 in various capacities. His dedication and eagerness to learn led him to progress steadily and become co-author of seven peer-reviewed scientific papers. “This is Gaston's first article as lead author, a milestone for his career, and for our capacity-building efforts: he is the first research assistant of Indigenous People’s origin to become first author, in the Ndoki landscape,” said WCS partnering conservationist David Morgan of the Lincoln Park Zoo, researcher at both research sites involved in the findings. The article was part of a Special Issue of the journal Primates, dedicated to “Twenty-five years of primate research in the Ndoki forest.” Abea’s efforts identifying key areas for gorilla truffle feeding at Mondika prompted to shift the potential locations of tourism-related infrastructure to safeguard this behavior.  Most significantly, his findings were included in an ecological impact assessment of the Djéké Triangle, where the Mondika Research Station is located, which provided the evidence for the land management decision-making process that resulted in the inclusion of the Djéké Triangle in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in 2023. Said Morgan: “This is an exciting finding for our understanding of gorilla foraging behavior, and we found indications of social implications of soil scratching within groups. For example, an adult female emigrated from one gorilla group where this behavior was rare to one where it was nearly a daily occurrence, and modified her habits.” “This paper shows how much traditional ecological knowledge, scientific research, and conservation can benefit from each other.” Said  Dr Sydney Ndolo, former researcher assistant in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, now lecturer and professor of Botany at the Université Marien Ngouabi in Brazzaville.  Dr. Ndolo is the second author of the paper. He added: “Local cultures will only survive if they are properly valued, and research is an important means of achieving this.” Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:20:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24917 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24931/New-Study-Worldwide-Carbon-Rich-Peatlands-are-Dangerously-Under-Protected#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24931 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24931&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24931/New-Study-Worldwide-Carbon-Rich-Peatlands-are-Dangerously-Under-Protected   Report is the first to comprehensively assess the global conservation status of peatlands, which store more carbon than all the world’s forests biomass combined; calls for urgent action to protect this overlooked ecosystem, including by strengthening Indigenous People’s land rights Find study here Find Story Map here A new study released today reveals that peatlands — a vital carbon store that many people have never heard of — are dangerously under-protected, putting the global climate at risk. Covering just 3% of Earth’s surface, these terrestrial wetlands store 600 billion tons of carbon — more than all the world’s forest biomass combined — yet only 17% of peatlands fall within a protected area.  That figure stands in stark contrast to the levels of protection afforded to other at-risk ecosystems, including mangroves (42%), saltmarshes (50%) and tropical forests (38%). Meanwhile, nearly one-quarter of the world’s peatlands are under heavy pressure from human encroachment, with farming the largest threat globally. The new study, Mismatch Between Global Importance of Peatlands and the Extent of their Protection, which appeared today in the journal Conservation Letters, offers the first global assessment of the conservation status of the world’s peatlands. These wetlands accumulate partially decomposed organic matter, preventing the release of billions of tons of carbon-dioxide to the atmosphere. But peatlands emit that CO2 when they are drained, disturbed, extracted, or removed completely to access resources (e.g., mining or forestry) or to convert them to other uses, such as farmlands. “This study is a real benchmark of where we are in terms of the conservation and management of peatlands globally,” said Dr. Kemen Austin, PhD, lead study author and Director of Science at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Our research reveals that these vital ecosystems don’t have anywhere near the level of protection they need.”  The authors note that release of peatlands’ stored carbon leads to dangerous levels of greenhouse gases.  Failure to protect peatlands puts their carbon stores at high risk and could also endanger global supplies of freshwater, as peatlands contain 10% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater. They are also rich in biodiversity — containing a dazzling variety of mosses, flowering plants,  birds, snails, fish and butterflies. Countries with the most peatlands include Canada, Russia, Indonesia, US, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Peru, Finland and Republic of the Congo. These 10 countries contain 80% of global peatlands. And the first five contain 70% of global peatlands. The study reveals that at least one-quarter (27%) of global peatlands fall on Indigenous Peoples’ lands, where they have been safeguarded by these communities. Globally, the study reports that at least 1.1 million square kilometers of peatlands lie within Indigenous Peoples’ lands and that more than 85% of peatlands within Indigenous Peoples’ lands do not fall within other types of protected areas.  According to the authors,  strengthening the land rights of Indigenous Peoples can confer significant benefits for the peatlands — as well as other ecosystems — they manage.  “Our study reveals a really powerful fact — that Indigenous Peoples are already important caretakers of peatlands,” said Paul Elsen, PhD, study author and Director of Conservation Planning at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “This is significant because it means that we can improve peatland conservation by strengthening Indigenous People’s land rights, which is a trend that we’re already seeing in a lot of countries. So we have to keep up those efforts.” Peatlands under pressure The study reveals that nearly one-quarter of peatlands are under heavy pressure from human encroachment. Some 15% of peatlands have been drained for agriculture, while an additional 5-10% are degraded in some way, including through the removal of their native vegetation. This rate is even higher in the tropics, where estimates suggest over 40% of peatlands have been degraded. In some cases, peatlands are drained and burned,  emitting enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Between 1.5 and 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions are emitted from disturbed and damaged global peatlands every year. The study also shows that almost half of temperate and tropical peatlands that fall within protected areas are still subject to medium to high pressure from human encroachment. The authors conclude that “the conservation and sustainable management of nearly all remaining undegraded peatlands, and the recovery of nearly all degraded peatlands, is essential to limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”  Though many local communities have long known peatlands — also called bogs fens, swamps, mires, and muskeg — to be an important source of freshwater and home to diverse plant and animal species, peatlands may have gone unprotected because they are remote, difficult to access, not always easily converted to farming, mining, or other industries, and have been thought of as unproductive wastelands. “The multilateral climate change negotiations hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change offer an important opportunity to elevate peatland conservation actions as a climate priority,” said Austin. “But based on the nationally determined contributions countries have submitted to date, the continued disturbance and damage to global peatlands is  getting very little attention as a significant and avoidable source of GHG emissions.”   With some exceptions — such as Indonesia and the UK, — most countries do not have comprehensive peatland strategies to support their national climate plans. And while some countries emphasize the importance of peatlands in their climate plans, they can still face challenges translating these peatland goals into coordinated policies and conservation actions.  “Peatlands offer a huge opportunity for helping to solve the climate crisis,” said Austin. “If we act now to conserve peatlands, then we can reap some enormous benefits — at a relatively low cost.” Thu, 13 Feb 2025 08:56:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24931 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24933/African-Elephants-Face-Severe-Decline-Over-Past-Half-Century#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24933 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24933&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24933/African-Elephants-Face-Severe-Decline-Over-Past-Half-Century A groundbreaking study released today reveals the alarming state of African elephant populations over the last 50 years. Both forest and savanna elephant species have experienced widespread declines due to overexploitation and habitat loss, mirroring the global trend affecting large-bodied animals. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed hundreds of population surveys from 475 sites across 37 African countries between 1964 and 2016. To overcome the complexity of survey data and varying wildlife management approaches over the long timescale, the team focused on estimating trends per population unit rather than overall species numbers. Key findings include: ·         Average decline of 90% for African forest elephant populations ·         Average decline of 70% for savanna elephant populations ·         Combined average decline of 77% across both species continent-wide Population trends varied significantly. Some populations have disappeared entirely, with others showing rapid growth. Southern Africa for instance saw a 42% average increase in savanna elephant populations, with only 10% of surveyed populations in eastern Africa increasing. No elephant populations in the northern savannas grew, and many became extinct. According to Boo Maisels, a conservation scientist at Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and a contributing author of the study, “While the overall picture is discouraging for both forest and savanna elephants, we see that some populations remain stable or are even growing. Examples for forest elephants include those of the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo and the Mbam et Djerem National Park in Cameroon; and for savanna elephants, the Katavi-Rukwa and Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystems in Tanzania, and the KAZA landscape in Southern Africa. Our results tell us that if well protected and managed, elephant populations can still increase despite increasing pressures surrounding them and their habitats. Indeed, elephants need our help now more than ever.” George Wittemyer, senior author and elephant expert with Save the Elephants, emphasized the importance of identifying regions where elephant populations increased. "This study helps us pinpoint successful conservation actions in different contexts. We must develop and implement a portfolio of effective solutions to address the diverse challenges elephants face across Africa." The research provides crucial insights into elephant conservation status, highlighting areas of concern and opportunities for learning from success stories in regions or sites where populations remain stable or increasing. As threats to these iconic species continue to mount, this comprehensive analysis offers valuable direction for future conservation efforts. Success stories exist illustrating that with good management and protection efforts, elephant populations can recover and thrive. # # # About Save the Elephants Save the Elephants works to secure a future for elephants. Specialising in elephant research, it provides scientific insights into elephant behaviour, intelligence, and long-distance movements and applies them to the challenges of elephant survival and harmonious coexistence with humanity. High-tech tracking helps plan landscapes while low-tech beehive fences, among other tools, provide people /communities living with elephants with protection as well as income. Education and outreach programmes share these insights with local communities as the true custodians of this rich heritage. Save the Elephants (www.savetheelephants.org) runs the Elephant Crisis Fund (www.elephantcrisisfund.org) in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Network, providing flexible and responsive support to NGOs combatting the ivory trade, promoting human-elephant coexistence, and protecting elephant landscapes. Tue, 12 Nov 2024 12:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24933 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24942/New-Study-Confirms-FSC-Certified-Forests-Help-Wildlife-Thrive-in-the-Congo-Basin#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24942 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24942&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24942/New-Study-Confirms-FSC-Certified-Forests-Help-Wildlife-Thrive-in-the-Congo-Basin A new study reveals compelling evidence that forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®(FSC®) in Gabon and the Republic of Congo harbour a higher abundance of larger mammals and critically endangered species, such as gorillas and elephants, compared to non-FSC certified forests. The research was led by Utrecht University with support from WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and was published in Nature on 10 April 2024. It underscores the effectiveness of measures implemented in FSC-certified forest concessions to safeguard wildlife.  Key findings: FSC certification is a haven for larger mammals  By meticulously documenting individual animal counts and strategically positioning camera traps, the research conducted by Joeri Zwerts affirmed that certified concessions notably harbour a larger population of large mammals – 2.7 times more for mammals over 100 kg, such as gorillas and forest elephants, and 2.5 times more for mammals between 30–100 kg such as leopards and chimpanzees, when compared to non-FSC-certified forest concessions. The number of smaller mammals observed was similar between FSC- and non-FSC certified concessions, painting a picture of less biodiversity in the latter forests. The effects were similar in both Gabon and the Republic of Congo. In addition, the encounter rates of large mammals in FSC-certified forests were comparable to published data from recently monitored protected areas in the Congo Basin.  Clear link between hunting and biodiversity loss   The research emphasizes the pivotal role of hunting in biodiversity loss, highlighting the reduced number of hunting signs and increased wildlife observations in FSC-certified concessions. Certified forestry entities’ proactive measures, such as blocking old logging roads, establishing checkpoints, and supporting alternative protein sources for local populations, have significantly curbed illegal hunting.  Beyond wildlife conservation, the study highlights the broader positive impact of FSC certification. The conservation of large mammals positively influences seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and forest carbon storage. Previous research (published in Nature Geoscience) has shown that tropical forests would potentially store 7% less carbon without the presence of elephants.   Responsible forest management: an important pillar for biodiversity conservation  The study shows how sustainable forestry practices can contribute to the conservation of large mammal populations and to the protection of existing tropical forests. Said WCS research scientist and study co-author Fiona Maisels: “Tropical ecologists have known for some time that FSC certification is helpful for maintaining large-bodied mammal populations, based on studies that compare a single protected area to adjacent concessions. However, this is the first time that a set of paired FSC and non-FSC management concessions have been included in a carefully designed study over an enormous geographical area. The results are crystal clear: large animals of conservation concern (such as forest elephants and the great apes) are unquestionably far better off in FSC-certified forests.”  This study – the first to compare so many different forest areas at the same time – “was a large and ambitious project that took five years and involved hundreds of local employees. We had to convince both certified and non-FSC-certified companies to participate in the study. It was hard work under challenging conditions, but the knowledge we gained will make an important contribution to the protection of animals in tropical forests,” said Utrecht University’s Joeri Zwerts, who led the study.   Fran Price, Leader, WWF Forest Practice, said: “These results are inspiring and an indication that FSC continues to be an effective tool in tropical forests, and that its standards translate into tangible impacts. Solutions that benefit both people and nature do exist, and responsible forest management certification is one of those vital solutions. This study shows there is a significant difference between populations of large mammals, such as the critically endangered forest elephant, in FSC-certified concessions versus non-certified concessions. We urge companies to pursue FSC certification and invest more in research that can help inform continual improvement of such mechanisms.”  Kim Carstensen, FSC International’s Director General said: “Utrecht University’s study reinforces FSC’s core principles and our commitment to responsible forest management. This research affirms the vital role of FSC certification in fostering diverse ecosystems and protecting endangered species in tropical forests, while benefiting both local communities and the environment.”   As logging concessions account for more than half of the remaining forest areas in the two countries studied (61% in the Republic of Congo and 67% in Gabon), these positive results from FSC-certified concessions are of great importance for the conservation of biodiversity in the region.   Methodology: rigorous surveillance unveils compelling insights  Conducted by Joeri Zwerts and his team, the study published in the science journal Nature employed 474 camera traps across 14 logging concessions – seven FSC-certified and seven non-FSC-certified – in the Congo Basin. Over three to four years of fieldwork (two to three months monitoring period per concession) these traps snapped 1.3 million images, capturing approximately 55 mammal species including leopards and gorillas, as well as various endangered species.   Wed, 10 Apr 2024 12:54:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24942 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24986/Special-Issue-of-African-Journal-of-Ecology-Dedicated-to-Wild-Meat-Trade-That-is-Rapidly-Emptying-Africas-Forests-of-Wildlife#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24986 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24986&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24986/Special-Issue-of-African-Journal-of-Ecology-Dedicated-to-Wild-Meat-Trade-That-is-Rapidly-Emptying-Africas-Forests-of-Wildlife   Issue features more than a dozen studies looking at the conservation and socio-economic aspects of wild meat trade in Central Africa WCS studies examine urban restaurants, governance, behavior change, and other aspects of trade and consumption Link to images, captions, and copies of individual studies A special issue of the African Journal of Ecology is dedicated to the wild meat trade that is rapidly emptying Africa’s forests of its wildlife. The issue contains more than a dozen studies on various aspects of the wild meat trade. WCS conservationists have authored four of the studies examining urban restaurants and supply chains, governance, and behavior change. Hunting and trade of wild meat is having a huge yet unrecognized impact on biodiversity loss, and current strategies to manage it are not working. Decision makers need to consider wild meat hunting and trade as an issue for global sustainability alongside deforestation, fisheries management, and others. This means establishing effective monitoring and intervention strategies at a local and global scale. The four WCS-led studies include: Profiling the types of restaurants that sell wild meat in Central African cities (Wright et al): Authors surveyed 326 restaurants in Brazzaville and Kinshasa and found that 10,000 wild meat dishes are consumed in these two cities daily, which equates to approx. 1,459 metric tons of wildlife annually. The amount of illegally procured wild meat passing through restaurants is significant and its overt sale continues to reinforce the social norm around eating wild meat. The majority of wild meat-selling restaurants are informal establishments owned by women. However, the number of restaurants dependent on wild meat sales was small and it was not generally considered to be central to the viability of the business. Changing the long-standing practices of wild meat supply chain actors, and crucially those of consumers, requires active engagement with these groups to forge mutually beneficial allegiances. Deeper insights alongside respectful negotiation is ultimately the pathway forward for designing collaborative and innovative strategies for behavior change in the wild meat sector. Empty laws, empty forests: reconsidering rights and governance for sustainable wildlife management in the Republic of Congo (Mavah et al):National regulations and enforcement for wild meat in the Republic of Congo are ineffective, yet undermine indigenous institutions. In common with many forest communities globally, this is creating an “open access” resource at the same time that demand for wild meat is increased by roads, towns, markets and new harvesting technology (guns, wire snares). Authors argue that the illegal wild meat trade globally reflects outdated institutions of exclusionary conservation. Additionally, the disempowerment of local people can be framed as an “empty laws” open-access syndrome in which neither national nor local controls are working. Authors say that this institutional problem needs to be resolved by reestablishing local tenure and rights. In proposing measures to rebuild local commons (private-community ownership), the paper highlights community rights, the issue of unsustainable commercial use and markets, and the substantial advantages of participatory face-to-face community governance relative to the representational committee-based governance associated with development projects. From the forest to the fork: A conceptual framework of the wild meat supply–demand system to guide interventions in tackling unsustainable trafficking and consumption in the Congo Basin (Wieland et al): WCS and partners developed a conceptual framework entitled “From the Forest to the Fork” that examined and considered change in three interrelated, dynamic components of the wild meat market system: the supply side, the demand side and the regulatory context. Using this framework, WCS has developed a strategic portfolio of interventions that reinforce each other and aim to change market system dynamics along the wild meat value chain. While the framework was originally developed with large urban centers in mind, WCS has adapted it to also address dynamics in rural protein-poor towns along the wild meat value chain to provide legal, sustainable options to consumers and engage wild meat value chain actors in other businesses. Using this Forest to the Fork framework has provided a new way of working to enhance WCS’s conservation practice and innovation in Central Africa. Much investment is still needed for ensuring impact in Central Africa's forests, yet frameworks like this will provide strategic insights that promote best practice at scale. Combining offtake and participatory data to assess the sustainability of a hunting system in northern Congo (Riddell et al): Research suggests that wild meat is hunted at unsustainable rates throughout much of the Congo basin, although accurately measuring hunting sustainability is challenging. A village in Northern Congo was the focus of study, which had been relatively remote until the arrival of a large number of people, infrastructure, and logging activities, and the study covered the period before and after the opening of the timber concession. The authors combined three types of offtake (removal of wildlife from the habitat) data: The first was a ten-year dataset on animals hunted, where data was reported to conservation project staff by the hunters. The second dataset included a participatory map of hunting areas around the focus village, which elicited discussions by hunters on how wildlife abundance and profile, and hunting techniques and strategies had changed over time in the area, and possible reasons why. The third dataset was a fine-grained, one-year dataset on hunting activity which included distance of each hunt from the village, and a detailed examination of more hunting variables than in the ten-year study. The conclusions drawn from the different data sets were broadly the same (indicating wildlife depletion over time, changes in the type of animal hunted, all strongly linked in time to the arrival of workers to a logging camp and to the later opening of a new road). Important additional information from the two shorter-term datasets included how hunters perceived wildlife changes over time, and to what they attributed it (wildlife depletion was attributed to their changing socioeconomic landscape, especially the immigration of people to the logging concession). The study also states how the hunters dealt with the lower numbers of available wildlife:  they hunted more at night, travelled further and to previously unused areas to find animals, and hired out their guns to others). The authors discuss how combining such different types of datasets can better distinguish between changes in prey populations and changes in hunting strategy, improving the effectiveness of long-term offtake data sets to assess sustainability of hunting. Tue, 29 Mar 2022 13:52:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24986 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24990/To-Understand-Future-Habitat-Needs-for-Chimpanzees-Look-to-the-Past#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24990 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24990&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24990/To-Understand-Future-Habitat-Needs-for-Chimpanzees-Look-to-the-Past   New study examines where chimpanzees found refuge from climate instability during the past 120,000 years Findings help predict how to mitigate against predicted biodiversity from climate change A new study provides insight into where chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) avoided climate instability during glacial and interglacial periods in Africa over the past 120,000 years. Using bioclimatic variables and other data, the study identified previously unknown swaths of habitat, rich in figs and palms, where chimps rode out the changes seen since the Last Interglacial period. The findings, published in the journal in the American Journal of Primatology, help to increase the understanding of how climate change impacts biodiversity, and how to mitigate against predicted biodiversity loss in the future. This research was led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and an international team of over 80 collaborators from research institutes across the globe.   For their analysis, the authors compiled over 130,000 occurrence records of chimpanzees stored in the A.P.E.S. database of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC), as well as data from the Pan African Programme: The Cultured Chimpanzee (PanAf) at the MPI-EVA and iDiv, Leipzig (http://panafrican.eva.mpg.de/). The researchers quantified chimpanzee habitat suitability using species distribution models based on chimpanzee occurrences, climate and human density data, and then projected these models onto temporal snapshots of climate reconstructions at up to 1000 year intervals, dating back to the Last Interglacial period (120,000 years ago). For the first time, they were able to build a dynamic model of habitat suitability over time, permitting long-term stability (i.e. glacial refugia) to be calculated. Results show that glacial refugia across Africa may have been underestimated for chimpanzees, with potentially up to 60,000 additional square kilometers (23,166 square miles) in the Upper and Lower Guinea Forests in West and Central Africa, and the Albertine Rift in East Africa. In addition, results provide explicit insights into chimpanzee habitat and how it may have shifted throughout time, enabling hypotheses of how global change has affected genetic and behavioral diversity to be tested in the future. Said lead author of the study Chris Barratt, a postdoctoral researcher at iDiv: “By integrating past climate and human density estimates, as well as species richness of keystone tropical plants (figs and palms), this study provides strong evidence of glacial refugia for chimpanzees being geographically larger than previously thought. It may well be that some of these refugia deserve greater levels of protection than they currently receive as they are important for the persistence of populations and species during periods of global change.” The results provide a new resource for understanding patterns of genetic and behavioral diversity in chimpanzees. Chimpanzees exhibit highly differentiated genetic diversity (for example, lower in West Africa and higher in East and Central Africa), as well as high levels of behavioral differentiation based on the environmental variability they are exposed to, including Pleistocene forest refugia. Said Hjalmar Kühl at iDiv, and senior author of the study: “We are only beginning to understand how past environmental changes have influenced the diversity in great apes we find today. A better understanding of these processes will tell us when variable environments serve as engines of diversification and when not. In the end these insights into great apes will also offer insights into our own evolution.” Said Fiona Maisels of the Wildlife Conservation Society and a co-author of the study: “To effectively conserve chimpanzees (and other species) over the centuries to come, it is essential to understand the past. Humans are changing the planet’s climate and its habitats ever more rapidly. Approaches such as those used in this study are vital for predicting how these changes will affect future wildlife abundance and distribution, and to ensure space and safety for a multitude of species.” Mon, 23 Aug 2021 14:05:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24990 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24994/African-great-apes-predicted-to-suffer-massive-range-declines-in-the-next-30-years-with-the-greatest-loss-in-unprotected-areas#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24994 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24994&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24994/African-great-apes-predicted-to-suffer-massive-range-declines-in-the-next-30-years-with-the-greatest-loss-in-unprotected-areas Read the study   A new study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions predicts massive range declines of Africa’s great apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – due to the impacts of climate change, land-use changes and human population growth. For their analysis, the authors compiled information on African ape occurrence held in the IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. database, a repository that includes a remarkable amount of information on population status, threats and conservation for several hundred sites, collected over 20 years (http://apesportal.eva.mpg.de/). The first-of-its-kind study quantifies the joint effects of climate, land-use, and human population changes across African ape ranges for the year 2050 under best- and worst-case scenarios. “Best case” implies slowly declining carbon emissions and that appropriate mitigation measures will be put in place. “Worst case” assumes that emissions continue to increase unchecked – business as usual. Under the best-case scenario, the authors predict that great apes will lose 85 percent of their range, of which 50 percent will be outside national parks and other areas protected by legislation. Under the worst-case scenario, they predict a 94 percent loss, of which 61 percent will be in areas that are not protected. This paper examines whether great apes can or cannot disperse away from where they are currently found, and the best- and worst-case scenarios in each case. For example, mountains are currently less suitable than lowland areas for some great ape species. However, climate change will render some lowlands less suitable – warmer, drier, perhaps less food available – but the nearby mountains will take on the characteristics that those lowlands currently have. If great apes are able to physically move from the lowlands to the mountains, they may be able to survive, and even increase their range (depending on the species, and whether it is the best- or worst-case scenario). However, they may not be able to travel (disperse) away from the lowlands in the time remaining between today and 2050. Joana Carvalho, postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, lead author of the study says: “By integrating future climate and land-use changes as well as human population scenarios, this study provides strong evidence for synergistic interactions among key global drivers constraining African ape distribution.” Carvalho adds: “Importantly, massive range loss is widely expected outside protected areas, which reflects the insufficiency of the current network of protected areas in Africa to preserve suitable habitats for great apes and effectively connect great ape populations.” Fiona Maisels of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and a co-author of the study, said: “As climate change forces the different types of vegetation to essentially shift uphill, it means that all animals – not only great apes – that depend on particular habitat types will be forced to move uphill along with the vegetation, or become locally extinct. And when the hills are low, many species, great and small, will not be able to go higher than the land allows, and huge numbers of animals and plants will simply vanish.” The authors argue that effective conservation strategies require careful planning for each species that focuses on both existing and proposed protected areas – the creation and management of which can be informed by these habitat suitability models. Additionally, efforts to maintain connectivity between the habitats predicted to be suitable in the future will be crucial for the survival of African apes. Conservation planners urgently need to integrate land-use planning and climate change mitigation and adaptation measures into government policy of great ape range countries. The study highlights the need for urgent action to combat both biodiversity loss and climate change if great apes are to continue into the future. Governments must protect and conserve the habitats of great apes—where they are now, and where they will need to move. Governments attending the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity CoP 15 in September and the UN Climate Change Conference in November should adopt meaningful commitments to protect and conserve great apes and their habitats and combat climate change. The results of the study corroborate other recent studies showing that African ape populations and their habitats are declining dramatically. All African great apes are classified either as Endangered (mountain gorillas, bonobos, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, eastern chimpanzees, and central chimpanzees) or Critically Endangered (Cross River gorillas, Grauer's gorillas, western lowland gorillas, and western chimpanzees) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and all are regarded as flagship species for conservation. Hjalmar Kuehl, from iDiv in Leipzig, Germany, and senior author of the study said: “There must be global responsibility for stopping the decline of great apes. Global consumption of natural resources extracted from ape range countries is a major driver of great ape decline. All nations benefitting from these resources have a responsibility to ensure a better future for great apes, their habitats and the people living therein by developing more sustainable economies.” The study involved over 60 co-authors from academic and non-academic organizations and government agencies, including Antwerp Zoo Society, Born Free Foundation, Chimbo Foundation, Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, Environment and Rural Development Foundation, Fauna & Flora International, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Jane Goodall Institute, Rio Tinto, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Sekakoh Organisation, Sierra Rutile Limited, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, The Biodiversity Consultancy, West African Primate Conservation Action, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and World Wide Fund for Nature. Mon, 07 Jun 2021 14:17:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24994 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24998/Study-Female-Monkeys-Use-Males-as-Hired-Guns-for-Defense-Against-Predators#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=24998 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=24998&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/24998/Study-Female-Monkeys-Use-Males-as-Hired-Guns-for-Defense-Against-Predators   Female putty-nosed monkeys use calls just to recruit males when certain predators are detected Results suggest that different “dialects” exist among different populations of monkeys Images captions, and audio files   Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Congo Program and the Nouabalé-Ndoki Foundation found that female putty-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) use males as “hired guns” to defend from predators such as leopards. Publishing their results in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the team discovered that female monkeys use alarm calls to recruit males to defend them from predators. The researchers conducted the study among 19 different groups of wild putty-nosed monkeys, a type of forest guenon, in Mbeli Bai, a study area within the forests in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, Northern Republic of Congo. The results promote the idea that females’ general alarm requires males to assess the nature of the threat and that it serves to recruit males to ensure group defense. Females only cease the alarm call when males produce calls associated with anti-predator defense. Results suggest that alarm-calling strategies depend on the sex of the signaler. Females recruit males, who identify themselves while approaching, for protection. Males reassure their female of their quality in predation defense, probably to assure future reproduction opportunities. Males advertise their commitment to serve as hired guns by emitting general “pyow” calls while approaching the rest of their group – a call containing little information about ongoing events, but cues to male identity, similar as to a signature call. Hearing his “pyow” call during male approaches enables females to identify high quality group defenders already from a distance. This might contribute to long-term male reputation in groups, which would equip females to choose males that ensure their offspring’s survival most reliably. Said the study’s lead author Frederic Gnepa Mehon of WCS’s Congo Program and the Nouabalé-Ndoki Foundation: “Our observations on other forest guenons suggest that if males do not prove to be good group protectors, they likely have to leave groups earlier than good defenders. To date, it remains unclear whether female guenons have a saying in mate choice, but our current results strongly suggest this possibility.” In the course of this study, a new call type was consistently recorded named “kek.” They found that the males used the “kek” call when exposed to a moving leopard model created by researchers for field experiments. Previous studies of putty-nosed monkeys in Nigeria never reported “keks.” This new type of call could thus be population-specific or it could be uttered towards moving threats. If “kek” calls are population specific, this could suggest that different “dialects” exist amongst putty-nosed monkeys – a strong indicator for vocal production learning, which is fiercely debated to exist in the animal kingdom. Said co-author Claudia Stephan Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Congo Program and the Nouabalé-Ndoki Foundation: “Sexual selection might play a far more important role in the evolution of communication systems than previously thought. In a phylogenetic context, what strategies ultimately drove the evolution of communication in females and in males? Might there even be any parallels to female and male monkeys’ different communication strategies in human language?” The authors say that current results considerably advanced the understanding of different female and male alarm calling both in terms of sexual dimorphisms in call production and call usage. Interestingly, although males have more complex vocal repertoires than females, the cognitive skills that are necessary to strategically use simple female repertoires seem to be more complex than those necessary to follow male calling strategies. In other words, female putty-nosed monkeys’ alarms may contain little information, but they do so by purpose, namely to facilitate the manipulation of male behavior. Wed, 31 Mar 2021 14:29:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:24998 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25004/New-Analysis-Pinpoints-Most-Important-Forests-for-Biodiversity-and-Conservation-Remaining-in-Central-Africa#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25004 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25004&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25004/New-Analysis-Pinpoints-Most-Important-Forests-for-Biodiversity-and-Conservation-Remaining-in-Central-Africa Sites in Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea identified Analysis combines the most important places for biodiversity with areas where forests are still relatively intact Research will guide conservation efforts to focus on these places, and help forest management, infrastructure, and other land-use planning to avoid impacting biodiversity Read the Study A study by WCS and partners produced new analyses to pinpoint the most important forests for biodiversity conservation remaining in Central Africa. The results highlight the importance of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Republic of Congo, and much of Gabon as the most important countries in Central Africa for safeguarding biodiversity and intact forests. The study combines new datasets on forests to identify where the most intact forests remain across this vast area with previous work that identified strongholds for bonobos, forest elephants,  gorillas, and chimpanzees across the region. The results reveal that the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest amount of priority areas in the region, containing more than half, followed by Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and Cameroon. Specific regions include: the Salonga area and East-central DRC; northern Republic of Congo; extensive areas in Gabon including Crystal Mountains (Monts de Cristal) and Chaillu Mountains (Monts de Chaillu), areas along the coast, and the north-east. The authors compared their approach to one that solely prioritizes forest intactness based on a forest fragmentation and degradation model, and models of human pressures on the forest, to one that aims to achieve only biodiversity representation objectives, and one that combines them all. They found that when priorities are only based on forest intactness without considering biodiversity representation, there are significantly fewer biodiversity benefits and vice versa. The study’s lead author, Dr. Hedley Grantham, WCS Director of Conservation Planning, said: “This study shows that just prioritizing forests based on their condition will trade-off biodiversity representation benefits, and vice versa will miss locations for preserving the remaining intact forests important for many species in an increasingly human-dominated world. Our approach can inform various types of conservation strategies, including land-use planning, carbon payments, protected area expansion, community forest management, and forest concession plans.” The forests of Central Africa contain some of Earth’s few remaining intact forests. These forests are increasingly threatened by infrastructure development, agriculture, and unsustainable extraction of natural resources (e.g., minerals, bushmeat, and timber), all of which is leading to deforestation and forest degradation, particularly defaunation, and hence causing declines in biodiversity and a significant increase in carbon emissions. Co-author WCS Conservation Scientist Fiona “Boo” Maisels said: “By highlighting areas of high importance for biodiversity and forest intactness, our analysis can guide national infrastructure and agricultural development plans to the areas of low conservation value, thus simultaneously enabling sustainable development and sound conservation stewardship” Olivia Rickenbach led the development of guidelines on High Conservation Value (HCV) identification and management for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest management in the Congo Basin. She notes: “FSC initiated and coordinated the collaboration that produced this analysis. It was sparked by the lack of readily available data and decision-making tools which could identify the most important zones for biodiversity conservation at a landscape level. The analysis was also needed due to the regional critique of  IFLs (Intact Forest Landscapes) as indicators to define such areas. Draft HCV guidelines were approved in November 2019 by the regional working group supervising this task; they now propose this method and data to identify HCV 2 areas.” The study is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters as a partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Society, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the World Resources Institute, Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat, CIRAD – a French agriculture and research organization, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and four Universities from France, the UK, and Australia. WCS is a member of Forests for Life, a partnership committed to working with governments, Indigenous Peoples, civil society and the private sector to halt and reverse forest degradation across 1 billion hectares of intact forests worldwide. The study was funded by the Forest Stewardship Council, WCS, and WWF. Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:50:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25004 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25143/Largest-study-ever-in-Western-Equatorial-Africa-shows-gorillas-in-deep-trouble#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25143 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25143&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25143/Largest-study-ever-in-Western-Equatorial-Africa-shows-gorillas-in-deep-trouble In 2018, scientists from ten different organizations assembled the largest survey dataset ever on western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees. We collated the information on great apes nests from 59 sites in five countries surveyed over 11 years between 2003 and 2013. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaar2964.full The study indicated that although there were more gorillas than previously published, they were in deep trouble- declining by a shocking 2.7% every year. On the basis of the results, we were able to recommend three principal ways forward to better conserve this threatened species. Although all great apes are protected by national laws and international conventions,  the combination of poaching and road expansion combined with Ebolavirus disease (EVD) outbreaks has been catastrophic for gorillas and chimpanzees. To conserve great apes effectively, we need to have reliable estimates of their distribution, density, and abundance, and we need to understand the factors driving their population trends across space and time. We then use this information to guide and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation actions at site level (such as a National Park), to identify the best areas to protect, and to advise on regional, species-wide conservation measures that can improve the policy landscape for conservation. 99% of the planet’s gorillas are western lowland gorillas, and they live in Western Equatorial Africa.  In 2013, our study estimated that there were 362,000 western lowland gorillas – higher than previously published! Most of them are found in the two countries: 60% in the Republic of Congo and 27% in Gabon. However, they were declining at a rate of 2.7% maintaining them https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9406/17989591 as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List. At this rate, the reduction in the gorilla population would be expected to exceed 80% over three generations. Fiona Maisels of  WCS: "Our study underscores the huge importance of intact forests to gorillas and chimpanzees, and of preventing illegal felling of good quality forest.” Although gorilla populations are stable in areas patrolled by ecoguards – both in protected areas such as National Parks and in well managed, FSC-certified logging concessions, they are declining elsewhere. With only 23% of gorillas located in protected areas however, it is critical to ensure stronger protection in the peripheries of PAs and large forest blocks in forestry concessions, for example. Why are gorillas more vulnerable than chimpanzees? Unlike chimpanzees, gorillas leave obvious trail along the forest floor and are easy for a hunter to follow. A silverback gorilla will defend his family from danger rather than flee as chimpanzees will do, which is of little use when faced with a firearm. The surviving females – if any - and their young will then disperse, which will likely lead to further deaths though infanticide by a new adult male keen to add them to his group. In the absence of antipoaching, poachers will use roads to access remote areas of forests where wildlife densities are highest and where they can hunt as many animals as possible in a given period of time. As a result, if roads are not protected by guards, the areas along and near roads are severely depleted of wildlife, and gorillas are no exception. However, in areas where there are guards, this road-gorilla density relationship no longer holds, as guards are preventing poachers from operating. In addition, each time a new road is created through a forest, it provides access to new areas. If conservation issues such as access are not included in the planning of new infrastructure, an unexpected consequence will be the depletion of wildlife in the area. To date, almost 10% of gorilla range has been hit by Ebolavirus outbreaks since the early 1990s, with mortality reaching 90 to 95% in many areas. Gorillas were estimated to have dropped to about a quarter of their potential density in the affected area overall. In protected areas patrolled by ecoguards, some gorilla populations are starting to recover, but as only 23% of the species’ range is protected, it does not bode well for the animals in the remaining 77% of the region.  Lead author Samantha Strindberg of WCS: “It’s great news that the forests of Western Equatorial Africa still contain hundreds of thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees, but we’re also concerned that so many of these primates are outside of protected areas and vulnerable to poachers, disease, and habitat degradation and loss. These findings can help inform national and regional management strategies that safeguard the remaining habitat, increase anti-poaching efforts, and curtail the effects of development on great apes and other wildlife.” The three principal threats facing gorillas in Western Equatorial Africa are hunting for meat, habitat loss and modification, and disease (especially Ebolavirus). The most important thing to do right now to tackle the first two threats is to ensure that the present ape strongholds- which are the protected areas and the logging concessions- are well-protected by ecoguards. Guards can do two things- they can stop poaching, which is the most important threat at the moment in the region- and they can also stop illegal logging. This is part of the remit of both the protected areas and the logging industry- a great deal of conservation outside the protected areas can and has been done where companies abide by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Standards, which include ensuring antipoaching and habitat protection. Habitat loss is going to be an increasingly important threat in this region in the coming decades, as industrial agriculture takes off- especially huge monocultural concessions of crops such as oil palm, and perhaps rubber. Thus, the other really important step for great ape conservation is long-term land use planning to ensure that new, large agricultural concessions are located in areas where the forest has already been removed and the apes are already long gone (such as around the cities of the region). The existing early alert system for Ebolavirus outbreak pioneered in Congo should be extended elsewhere, and diligent disease control measures are needed to minimize impact of potential outbreaks. Research into disease ecology and Ebola vaccine delivery needs to be continued. Finally, people value what they understand. Continuous conservation advocacy and policy work with communities, industry and decision-makers needs to be part of the long haul to ensure a future for our fascinating relatives, the gorillas and chimpanzees of Central Africa. WCS is committed to achieve these goals by continuous capacity building, excellent management of protected areas, stronger protection in the areas surrounding protected areas, research into Ebolavirus disease, and working with Governments, regional institutions and international agencies to improve conservation policy and practice across the world. Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:26:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25143 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25012/Study-Documents-Impacts-of-Selective-Logging-and-Associated-Disturbance-on-Intact-Forest-Landscapes-and-Wildlife-of-Northern-Congo#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25012 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25012&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25012/Study-Documents-Impacts-of-Selective-Logging-and-Associated-Disturbance-on-Intact-Forest-Landscapes-and-Wildlife-of-Northern-Congo   Researchers find clear links between logging road incursion into Intact Forest Landscapes and elephant poaching A new study says that the tropical forests of Western Equatorial Africa (WEA) – which include significant stands of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) – are increasingly coming under pressure from logging, poaching, and associated disturbances. The tropical forests of WEA are comprised of significant stands of IFLs, which are forest and associated mosaics lacking overt human disturbance such as infrastructure. The vast majority of IFLs found in the Republic of Congo are located in the north of the country, which is also inhabited by extraordinary biodiversity, including chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Forests of northern Congo are also comprised of timber-rich stands, the exploitation of which is a big driver of the region’s economy and development. Publishing in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, researchers from Lincoln Park Zoo, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Washington University in St. Louis, found that logging road construction had accelerated over the last two decades and has led to a dramatic decline of IFLs. Increased human immigration and degradation of natural resources follows in the wake of such road expansion. The researchers, together with Park authorities, documented the first instances of elephant poacher incursions in Goualougo Triangle region of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (NNNP) – considered the most pristine block of rainforest remaining in the entire Congo Basin. This coincided with the arrival of roads and active logging in adjacent forest. Increased access to IFLs that facilitates illegal hunting raises concern and increases challenges for authorities tasked with protecting wildlife across WEA. As part of a regional monitoring effort, researchers partnered with local government officials and the timber company working in the region to assess ape abundances in relation to habitat characteristics and human-caused disturbances, comparing IFLs and non-IFL areas in the Sangha Trinational landscape, a transboundary UNESCO World Heritage site in the Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Central African Republic. They found that IFLs had higher tree densities and less terrestrial vegetation than logged habitats. Results also indicate few ape resources were exploited in the areas logged twice and areas with tree stems removed had higher abundances of ape preferred terrestrial herbs, which may contribute to ape survival prospects. In addition, they found that chimpanzees and gorillas occur at high densities in both IFLs and as non-IFLs. Differences in the lower abundance of large trees in exploited forest were however identified to coincide with differences in ape resource use. The chimpanzee tree nesting niche was reduced in non-IFLs, as night nests were constructed significantly closer to the ground than in IFLs. Importantly, the study combined data collected at local scales with larger regional satellite monitoring efforts. The identification of erroneously classified IFLs in the Kabo logging concession in this investigation highlights how verifying remotely sensed information is necessary to ensure accuracy. To identify other less visible human-caused impacts, researchers assessed direct and indirect impacts of road expansion and illegal hunting on wildlife in these remote areas. They urge that the results of biodiversity assessments and strategic aspects of long-term protection should be taken into account when developing reduced impact logging (RIL) guidelines in non-certified and certified logging concessions like those bordering the NNNP. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) demands adherence to practices that include protecting biological, environmental service, social and cultural values that are significant or critically important. Such values should also be taken into consideration when identifying conservation set asides. For example, the majority of the remaining IFLs in the Kabo concession is within the Djeke Triangle, which is contiguous but outside the boundaries of the Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic and the NNNP in the Republic of Congo. Thus, this area is a strategic location for curbing future poaching incursions into both protected areas. It also comprises the home ranges of gorillas habituated to human presence for scientific study and tourism development. “With only eight percent of forests within Western Equatorial Africa remaining intact and on the decline, the preservation of such habitats should be a priority,” said David Morgan lead author of the research and conservation scientist at Lincoln Park Zoo. Emma Stokes, WCS’s Regional Director for Central Africa, said: “Intact Forests are important not only for elephants, chimpanzees, and gorillas, but also for climate regulation, indigenous cultures and overall ecosystem health; their loss has a disproportionate impact on the surrounding area.” Mon, 15 Jul 2019 15:16:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25012 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25016/Chimps-Are-Losing-Their-Culture-Study-Says#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25016 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25016&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25016/Chimps-Are-Losing-Their-Culture-Study-Says Chimpanzees' complex cultures, including the use of tools and other behaviors, are being lost as human disturbance expands into previously wild areas, says a sweeping new paper published in the journal Science. The ten-year study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, spanned 46 locations and 15 countries, providing the most complete description of chimpanzee culture to date. WCS, Lincoln Park Zoo, and more than 20 other organizations are co-authors. “We risk destroying these forests before even discovering what secrets they hold," said Emma Stokes, WCS’s Central Africa Director.. “These findings reinforce the broader values of intact forests for climate and biodiversity.” Thu, 07 Mar 2019 15:30:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25016 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25024/Massive-Study-Across-Western-Equatorial-Africa-Finds-More-Gorillas-and-Chimpanzees-Than-Expected-but-80-Are-Outside-the-Safe-Havens-of-Protected-Areas#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25024 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25024&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25024/Massive-Study-Across-Western-Equatorial-Africa-Finds-More-Gorillas-and-Chimpanzees-Than-Expected-but-80-Are-Outside-the-Safe-Havens-of-Protected-Areas A WCS-led study estimates that more than 360,000 gorillas and nearly 130,000 chimpanzees still inhabit the forests of Western Equatorial Africa--approximately one third and one tenth more than previously thought Conservationists from several organizations and government agencies gathered and analyzed a decade of data on western lowland gorilla and central chimpanzee populations in the largest ever survey of these great apes Approximately 80 percent of these great apes live outside protected areas, and gorillas are declining at an annual rate of 2.7 percent Efforts to stop poaching, illegal logging, and habitat degradation and destruction are key to saving great apes The field work for the study collectively took 167 person-years, with the researchers walking a distance longer than the north-south axis of Africa A massive decade-long study of Western Equatorial Africa’s gorillas and chimpanzees has uncovered both good news and bad about our nearest relatives. The good news: there are one third more western lowland gorillas and one tenth more central chimpanzees than previously thought. The bad news: the vast majority of these great apes (80 percent) exist outside of protected areas, and gorilla populations are declining by 2.7 percent annually. The WCS-led study titled “Guns, germs and trees determine density and distribution of gorillas and chimpanzees in Western Equatorial Africa” appears in the latest edition of the journal Science Advances. The newly published paper was written by 54 co-authors from several organizations and government agencies, including WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Jane Goodall Institute, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), Lincoln Park Zoo, and the Universities of Stirling and Washington, and involved the protected area authorities of five countries. Researchers collected field data during foot surveys carried out over a 10-year period across the range of both western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and central chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) – surveying an area of 192,000 square kilometers (72,000 square miles – equivalent to the size of the state of Washington) and including some of the most remote forests on the African continent. The authors of the study report an estimated abundance of over 360,000 gorillas and nearly 130,000 chimpanzees across the combined ranges of both subspecies, both of which were higher than previously believed. The gorilla estimate is approximately one-third higher and the chimpanzee estimate is about one-tenth higher. These revised numbers come largely from refinements to the survey methodology, new data from areas not previously included in range-wide estimates, as well as predictions of numbers in the areas between survey sites. “It’s great news that the forests of Western Equatorial Africa still contain hundreds of thousands of gorillas and chimpanzees, but we’re also concerned that so many of these primates are outside of protected areas and vulnerable to poachers, disease, and habitat degradation and loss,” said lead author Samantha Strindberg of WCS. “These findings can help inform national and regional management strategies that safeguard the remaining habitat, increase anti-poaching efforts, and curtail the effects of development on great apes and other wildlife.” Although the majority of great apes were found outside of protected areas, they were still in large forested landscapes close to or bordering existing national parks and reserves and away from centers of human activity. This suggests that protecting large and intact forested areas, with protected areas at their core, is critical to conserving gorillas and chimpanzees in this region. The data analysis also revealed a 2.7 percent annual decline in gorilla numbers, a finding that supports the continued status of the species as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Chimpanzees are listed as “Endangered.” The combined field time spent by researchers collecting data for the study totaled approximately 61,000 days (or 167 person-years) of time. Researchers walked more than 8,700 kilometers (5,400 miles)—a distance longer than the north-south axis of the African continent, or from New York to London—while collecting data on great ape nests that was used to generate population estimates and trends. Said co-author Dave Morgan of the Lincoln Park Zoo and Goualougo Triangle Ape Project: “The boots on the ground research teams and partnerships are crucial to the success of these programs and the conservation of gorillas and chimpanzees. These long-term studies enable us to make informed recommendations regarding protected lands and management to help great apes.” The main factors responsible for the decline of gorillas and chimpanzees are illegal hunting, habitat degradation, and disease. At the same time, it was clear that where wildlife guards were present, above all in protected areas with intact forests, both gorillas and chimpanzees can thrive. David Greer of WWF said: “All great apes, whether in Africa or Asia, are threatened by poaching, especially for the bushmeat trade. Our study found that apes could live in safety, and thus in higher numbers, at guarded sites than if there was no protection.” Said Fiona Maisels of WCS: “Our study underscores the huge importance of intact forests to gorillas and chimpanzees, and of preventing illegal felling of good quality forests.” Other conservation recommendations made by the authors include land-use planning at national scales to keep ecologically-harmful activities, such as agriculture and new road construction, away from intact forests and the protected areas that serve as important gorilla and chimpanzee refuges. Another priority is the implementation of careful logging practices in existing logging concessions that follow Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Standards for reducing impacts on wildlife and habitats. These standards require that access to forests is controlled, old logging roads are effectively decommissioned and effective patrol systems are put in place to prevent illegal hunting. Ensuring strong implementation is critical. An additional threat to great apes – as well as human health – is the Ebola virus disease. Continued research into developing a vaccine and the means to deliver it are priorities, as are educational efforts on how to avoid spreading the disease and transmission between humans and great apes. Of all the 14 living great ape taxa, western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees have the largest remaining populations. This is certainly good news. However, their future preservation cannot be taken for granted, given the fact that their dependence on suitable habitat collides with local to global demand for natural resources from their habitat, particularly outside of protected areas, where most of them occur. Said Hjalmar Kühl of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology: “Protecting our gorillas and chimpanzees will therefore require a major increase in political will at all levels—national, regional, and global. Financial commitments from governments, international agencies for endangered species conservation and the private sector, are also critical for conserving our closest relatives and their habitats.” Liz Williamson from the University of Stirling and the IUCN Red List Authority Coordinator for great apes said: “A combination of responsible industrial practices, conservation policies, and a network of well-managed parks and corridors would provide wildlife managers with a winning formula for conserving great apes in Central Africa. Our study has revealed that it is not too late to secure a future for gorillas and chimpanzees.” The authors of the study are: S. Strindberg; F. Maisels; E.A. Williamson; S. Blake; E.J. Stokes; R. Aba’a; G. Abitsi; A, Agbor; R.D. Ambahe; P.C. Bakabana; M. Bechem; A. Berlemont; B. Bokoto de Semboli; P.R. Boundja; N. Bout; T. Breuer; G. Campbell; P. De Wachter; M. Ella Akou; F. Esono Mba; A.T.C. Feistner; B. Fosso; R. Fotso; D. Greer; C. Inkamba-Nkulu; C.F. Iyenguet; K.J. Jeffery; M. Kokangoye; H.S. Kühl; S. Latour; B. Madzoke; C. Makoumbou; G.A.F. Malanda; R. Malonga; V. Mbolo; D.B. Morgan; P. Motsaba; G. Moukala; B.S. Mowawa; M. Murai; C. Ndzai; T. Nishihara; Z. Nzooh; L. Pintea; A. Pokempner; H.J. Rainey; T. Rayden; H. Ruffler; C.M. Sanz; A. Todd; H. Vanleeuwe; A. Vosper; Y. Warren; and D.S. Wilkie. This research was supported by the Agence Française de Développement; Arcus Foundation; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) - Monitoring of the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE); Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; Conservation International and the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation; the European Union's Ecosystèmes Forestiers d’Afrique Centrale; the European Union's Espèces Phares; Fondation Odzala-Kokoua; Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon; Global Environment Facility; Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; Spain-United Nations Environment Programme Lifeweb; The Aspinall Foundation; Total (Gabon); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative; United States Agency for International Development’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE); U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Great Ape Conservation Fund, USFWS African Elephant Conservation Fund; Wildlife Conservation Society; the World Bank Group; and the World Wide Fund for Nature Germany, Netherlands, and USA. Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:53:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25024 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25034/Pangolins-at-Huge-Risk-as-Study-Reveals-Dramatic-Increases-in-Hunting-Across-Central-Africa#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25034 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25034&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25034/Pangolins-at-Huge-Risk-as-Study-Reveals-Dramatic-Increases-in-Hunting-Across-Central-Africa First study of its kind shows true scale of problem facing world’s most illegally traded mammal. Hunting of pangolins, the world’s most illegally traded mammal, increased by a staggering 150 percent in Central African forests from 1970s up to 2014, according to a new study by the University of Sussex, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), and other groups. The first-ever study of its kind, just published in Conservation Letters, shows the true scale of pangolin exploitation across the continent. The international research team, which includes researchers from academia and conservation organisations, state that between 0.4 to 2.7 million pangolins are harvested annually from forests in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. The team used data from 113 sites in 14 African countries to estimate the total annual harvest of pangolins. Worryingly the new study reveals that pangolins are now more sought after than elephant ivory: the proportion of the total number of vertebrates killed represented by pangolins has gone up 50-fold in the last forty years. Pangolins are hunted and traded for food and traditional medicine throughout their range in Africa, and recent evidence has also shown an increasing trade of African pangolins to some countries in Asia. The researchers show that the price of pangolins has increased in urban markets since the 1990s, with a 5.8 times increase in price observed for the sought-after giant pangolin despite it being protected. The team are calling on governments across the continent to increase the capacity to enforce international trade bans, embark on education and outreach programmes, and monitor pangolin populations. Daniel Ingram, lead author of the study from the University of Sussex, said: “Our new study shows that African pangolins are at risk. We now have the opportunity to ensure that these species do not follow the severe declines of the Asian pangolins. If we do not act now to better understand and protect these charismatic animals, we may lose them in the future.” WCS Conservation Scientist and co-author Fiona Maisels said: “Pangolins are extremely difficult to see, let alone monitor. They are nocturnal; in the daytime they are either underground or high up in trees, they do not call, make conspicuous nests, or provide us with easily recognizable dungpiles, unlike the other species of wildlife that we monitor. To date, we have no way of estimating how many still exist in the forests of Central Africa. What we do know is that as many as 2.7 million animals from three species in Central Africa (and one from Southern Africa) are being taken every year. We need to find out, rapidly, how to monitor these species, and ban their international trade if we are to protect these imperiled species.” Ingram added: “Compared to other species, relatively little is known about African pangolins, only gaining international attention in recent years. With hunting increasing, it is crucial we investigate how this links to the illegal wildlife trade. The engagement of governments and local people will be critical to the conservation of African pangolins.” Professor Jörn Scharlemann, from the University of Sussex, said: “Overexploitation is one of the main pressures driving wildlife, like the pangolins, closer to extinction, yet data to evaluate the pressures underlying species’ declines are scarce. “Collating data from local studies collected by hundreds of researchers allows us to provide vital information on the regional exploitation of African pangolins at a critical time for the survival of these species. Bringing these individual studies together allows us to see the bigger picture that can help inform conservation policy and provide the evidence to governments across the world required to step-up and take action.” The collaborative study, entitled ‘Assessing wide-scale pangolin exploitation by scaling local data’, has been published in the journal Conservation Letters and can be found here. The international team involved researchers from the Universities of Sussex, Stirling and Cambridge, University of Dschang, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Kyoto University, Duke University, University of Copenhagen, Montana Tech, University of Florida, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen; and from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Institut de Recherches en Ecologie Tropicale (CENAREST), Wildlife Conservation Society, Born Free Foundation, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife Cameroon, and the National Park Agency Gabon. Wed, 19 Jul 2017 16:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25034 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25042/Poaching-of-old-forest-elephant-matriarchs-threatens-rainforests#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25042 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25042&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25042/Poaching-of-old-forest-elephant-matriarchs-threatens-rainforests   Elephants – the “forest gardeners”- learn from their mothers how to find food, understand their complex forest home, and interact with other elephants. Scientists warn that killing of the oldest, wisest females – the guardians of their community’s forest and social knowledge- could cause cascading effects on ecosystem integrity Scientists working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Stirling, and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants say that the high levels of poaching forest elephants will result in a loss of the oldest, wisest matriarchs, who are living libraries of their vast rainforest domain. The oldest females guide and teach their young where to go for food and minerals, what to eat, how to process tricky foods, and how to avoid danger. Without these mothers, forest elephant social lives and their understanding of their ecosystem will be lost. This exacerbates the ongoing loss of ecosystem function already underway by the loss of these most effective seed dispersers and forest gardeners.   Future conservation plans for the lesser known cousin of the African savannah elephant, they say, must include strategies that consider changes to elephant social structure, habitat integrity, and pressure from growing human populations.  The essay titled “Consequences for elephants and forests: poaching and anthropogenic change” appears in the online version of Conservation Biology. The authors are: Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Fiona Maisels of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Stirling; and Vicki Fishlock of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants and the University of Stirling.  “We’ve been aware of the catastrophic decline of forest elephants since 2013” said WCS Conservationist Dr. Thomas Breuer, lead author of the essay. “But, as with savannah elephants, the impacts are greatest when we lose the matriarchs.” Scientists conducting long-term studies on savannah elephants have documented numerous and long-lasting effects of poaching and other forms of anthropogenic disruption on behavior. For instance, savannah elephants exposed to poaching become more nocturnal and more skittish outside of protected areas, which in turn can become more crowded with elephants and may be impacted by increased grazing and browsing. The loss of older individual animals, both male and female, affects the ability of populations to remain socially stable and robs other elephants of the survival skills of the most experienced members. Elephant matriarchs guide their families to key resources - water in savannahs or scarce fruiting trees in rainforests - and hold decades of geographical and social knowledge. Breuer and his co-authors say that forest elephants are probably experiencing—and causing—the same behavioral and ecological changes in their ecosystems as savannah elephants. Forest elephants play a crucial role in the seed dispersal of many plant and tree species, the maintenance of trail systems and natural forest clearings, and the distribution and renewal of soil nutrients across enormous areas. Their role as ecosystem engineers maintains the habitats on which many other plant and animal species depend.  “We should assume that these disruptions of forest elephant society and rainforest ecology are occurring, and that these assumptions need incorporation into conservation planning,” said Dr. Vicki Fishlock. Maintaining forest ecosystem functionality requires anti-poaching and anti-trafficking strategies to halt the killing and allowing surviving elephant populations to recover. Lessons from elephant losses in Western Africa should be used to support human-elephant coexistence around refuges, until elephants feel safe enough to recolonize their former range. Protecting complex forest elephant sociality and experience prevents downstream disturbance for elephants and their habitats and requires systematic assessment of the effectiveness of protected area networks—including connectivity between sites. Finally, the authors emphasize the need to better understand the impact of poaching on the life history and social organization of forest elephants. Thu, 12 May 2016 16:37:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25042 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25044/Adult-Male-Gorillas-Call-More-During-Feeding-Than-Females-Juveniles#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25044 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25044&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25044/Adult-Male-Gorillas-Call-More-During-Feeding-Than-Females-Juveniles Adult male gorillas in the wild ‘sing’ and ‘hum’ more during feeding than their younger or female counterparts, according to a study published today in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Eva Maria Luef and Simone Pika at the Humboldt Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany, and their colleague Thomas Breuer from the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York.  To access the study, click here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0144197 Many mammals and birds vocalize when finding or consuming certain foods. The phenomenon had been studied in chimps and bonobos, but only anecdotal evidence previously existed for gorillas. The authors of this study tracked two wild western lowland gorilla populations in the Republic of Congo, recording and analyzing the ‘singing’ and ‘humming’ calls that gorillas of different ages and sexes produced in response to various foods.  They found that adult male gorillas, including the dominant silverbacks, called the most. Females and juveniles were quieter, perhaps to reduce these vulnerable individuals’ risk of predation. The researchers only observed ‘singing’ and humming’ calls in association with food, especially while eating aquatic vegetation, flowers, and seeds. The authors suggest that this food-associated calling may be a means of expressing well-being. They also propose that it could aid group coordination and social cohesion. "Similar to the function of food-calls in chimpanzees, gorillas may call to let their group mates know when it is time to finish eating", said Dr. Luef. "Silverback males may have to call more frequently since they are often the ones initiating changes in group activity", she further explained.  The researchers only assessed 20 gorillas in the two groups, and did not analyze ‘singing’ and ‘humming’ calls separately in relation to specific foods. Nonetheless, they note that their findings provide new insight into the vocal abilities of gorillas and may provide new opportunities to investigate the development of vocal communication.  Citation: Luef EM, Breuer T, Pika S (2016) Food-Associated Calling in Gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) in the Wild. PLoS ONE 11(2): e0144197. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144197   Funding: This work was supported by Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung (Germany), Simone Pika, Grant Number: Sofja-Kovalevskaja-Award 2010–2015,https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/start.html; and Fritz-Thyssen Stiftung (Germany), Eva Maria Luef, 2012, http://www.fritz-thyssen-stiftung.de/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Wed, 24 Feb 2016 16:42:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25044 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25068/Sizing-Up-Congos-Silverbacks#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25068 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25068&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25068/Sizing-Up-Congos-Silverbacks Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but even for gorillas, some traits stand out. A new study conducted in the rainforests of the Republic or Congo shows that female western lowland gorillas seek out bigger mates to father their offspring. Conservationists with WCS and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology spent 12 years studying gorilla mating choices in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. Their findings illuminate an important factor in the evolution of great apes. In assessing the role of size in the reproductive success of silverback gorillas, the researchers examined three physical factors for measurement: overall body length, the size of the adult male’s head crest, and the size of its gluteal (backside) muscles. They then compared these physical traits with the number of female gorillas each silverback attracted, and the survival rates of their offspring. The researchers found that the bigger the adult male, the more mates it had. However, only head-crest size and gluteal muscles strongly correlated to offspring survival and overall reproductive success. In other words, the babies of the silverbacks with bigger heads and glutes had a better chance of surviving to weaning age, and more siblings. “Our findings of correlations between physical traits and male reproductive success could be considered evidence of a selection process in gorillas, but it is not yet proof,” said WCS’s Thomas Breuer, the study’s lead author. “More studies would be necessary to determine the links between morphology and fitness in this and other long-lived species.” This latest study follows several others chronicling the western lowland gorillas of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park’s Mbeli Bai, a large, swampy forest clearing where the apes (and the scientists observing them) gather for long periods. The research team conducted their work from 1995 until 2007, following the lives of 19 adult males and their family groups with the help of observation platforms, telescopes, and cameras. These methods enabled the conservationists to track the number of females each silverback mated with, the number of offspring they produced, and the offsprings' survival rates. To size up the silverbacks, the researchers used a non-invasive method called digital photogrammetry, which renders accurate measurements of individual gorillas and their characteristics from digital images by converting pixel size to actual lengths. “By using non-invasive methods for measuring the size of individual male gorillas and their features, we are gaining insights about the factors that could be driving mate selection in our closest relatives,” added Breuer. Tue, 01 May 2012 08:07:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25068 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25074/WCS-Releases-First-Ever-Landscape-Wide-Study-of-Elephants-and-Great-Apes#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25074 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25074&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25074/WCS-Releases-First-Ever-Landscape-Wide-Study-of-Elephants-and-Great-Apes Study looked at protected areas and logging concessions in Republic of Congo Results show importance of parks and anti-poaching efforts   The Wildlife Conservation Society announced the results of the first-ever evaluation of a large, “landscape-wide” conservation approach to protect globally important populations of elephants and great apes. The study looked at wildlife populations in northern Republic of Congo over a mosaic of land-use types, including a national park, a community-managed reserve, and various logging concessions. It found that core protected areas – coupled with strong anti-poaching efforts – are critical for maintaining populations of forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, and chimpanzees. The region, known as the Ndoki-Likouala Conservation Landscape, is considered one of the most important sites in Central Africa for all three species. The Wildlife Conservation Society has been working in the landscape since 1991 and helped establish Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in 1993. The study appears in the April 23rd edition of the journal PLoS One.  Authors include Wildlife Conservation Society researchers Emma Stokes, Samantha Strindberg, Parfait Bakabana, Paul Elkan, Fortuné Iyenguet, Bola Madzoke, Guy Aíme Malanda, Franck Ouakabadio and Hugo Rainey; Brice Mowawa of the Ministre de l’Economie Forestière, Republic of Congo; and Calixte Makoumbou, formerly with WCS Congo Program. The authors found that protected areas remain a key component of the landscape for all three species. Chimpanzees and elephants are particularly sensitive to human disturbance outside the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, and the park plays a major role in their distribution. In fact Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park may be one of the most important sites for chimpanzees in the Congo Basin with some of the highest densities recorded in Central Africa. The study also found that logging concessions that have wildlife management in place, including protection of key habitats and anti-poaching patrols, can support important populations of elephants and gorillas. However, the authors warn that logging concessions are only of conservation value if there are strict anti-poaching measures in place, and if they are close to protected areas free of human disturbance.  As evidence, the study showed the results of surveys in a logging concession without any anti-poaching measures or wildlife management where abundance of all three species was very low. “Protected areas free of human disturbance, logging, or roads remain key to the protection of great apes and elephants,” said WCS researcher Emma Stokes, the study’s lead author.  “Landscape conservation should focus on protected areas surrounded by other land-use types that also have wildlife management in place.”  The forests of the Congo Basin are one of the last remaining tropical wildernesses and a top priority for biodiversity conservation. Commercial logging is prevalent throughout much of the Congo Basin, with over 30 percent of native forest allocated to logging concessions compared to only 12 percent under protection.  More than 50 percent of the current range of western gorillas and chimpanzees is estimated to lie in active logging concessions. “This study shows that landscape-wide conservation can work in Central Africa – provided there are the resources and political will to save wildlife over large areas,” said James Deutsch, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Africa programs. “Conservation on this scale is difficult and expensive, but absolutely necessary if we hope to save viable populations of elephants and great apes.  At the same time, the government’s capacity to follow up and take legal action against poachers should be strengthened and is a key to maintaining the protection of the forests and their wildlife.” The authors estimated elephant and great ape density using distance sampling surveys of elephant dung piles and great ape nests. The surveys presented in this paper were made possible through generous funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Ape Conservation Fund. Currently, WCS advocates the speedy passage of HR 4416, the Great Ape Conservation Reauthorization Act, which would continue government support for the Great Ape Conservation Fund, and applauds Rep. George Miller (D-CA) for leading the effort.  In January, Dr. Deutsch testified before a Congressional panel on behalf of WCS in support of the legislation. Thu, 06 May 2010 08:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25074 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25078/Motherlode-of-Gorillas-Discovered-in-Central-Africa#Comments 0 https://congo.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=24908&ModuleID=55067&ArticleID=25078 https://congo.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=25078&PortalID=255&TabID=24908 https://congo.wcs.org/Newsroom/ID/25078/Motherlode-of-Gorillas-Discovered-in-Central-Africa The world’s population of critically endangered western lowland gorillas received a huge boost today when the Wildlife Conservation Society released a census showing massive numbers of these secretive great apes alive and well in the Republic of Congo. The new census tallied more than 125,000 western gorillas in two adjacent areas in the northern part of the country, covering an area of 18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers). Previous estimates from the 1980s placed the entire population of western lowland gorillas, which occur in seven Central African nations, at fewer than 100,000. Since then, however, scientists had believed that this number had dwindled by at least half, due to hunting and disease. The census data were released at a press conference at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. The WCS scientists who worked on the census include Fiona Maisels, Richard Malonga, Hugo Rainey, Emma Stokes, and Samantha Strindberg. The new census was the result of intensive fieldwork carried out by the Bronx Zoo-based WCS and the Government of Republic of Congo. The researchers combed rainforests and isolated swamps to count gorilla “nests” to accurately estimate the population. Gorillas construct nests each night from leaves and branches for sleeping. Population densities ranged as high as eight individuals per square kilometer in one particularly rich forest patch, which ranks as among the highest gorilla density ever recorded. WCS says a combination of factors account for such high numbers of gorillas, including successful long-term management of the Republic of Congo’s protected areas; remoteness and inaccessibility of some of the key locations where the gorillas were found; and a habitat where there is plenty to eat, particularly in some of the swamp forests and the “Marantaceae” forests, which are rich in herbs. WCS has worked with the Government of Republic of Congo in the northern area of the country for nearly 20 years, helping to establish the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and manage the Lac Télé Community Reserve, while working with logging companies outside of protected areas to reduce illegal hunting. “These figures show that northern Republic of Congo contains the mother lode of gorillas,” said Dr. Steven E, Sanderson, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “It also shows that conservation in the Republic of Congo is working. This discovery should be a rallying cry for the world that we can protect other vulnerable and endangered species, whether they be gorillas in Africa, tigers in India, or lemurs in Madagascar.” The tally of northern Congo’s gorillas incorporates 73,000 found in the Ntokou-Pikounda region and 52,000 from the Ndoki-Likouala landscape, where a previously unknown population of nearly 6,000 gorillas was discovered in an isolated raffia swamp. WCS cautioned that many of the gorillas live outside of existing protected areas, though the Government of Congo has committed to creating a new national park in the Ntokou-Pikounda region. “We knew from our own observations that there were a lot of gorillas out there, but we had no idea there were so many,” said Dr. Emma Stokes, who led the survey efforts in Ndoki-Likouala. “We hope that the results of this survey will allow us to work with the Congolese government to establish and protect the new Ntokou-Pikounda protected area.” Mr. Claude Etienne Massimba of the Government of Republic of Congo’s Department of Wildlife and Protected Areas said, “We hope that these results will speed up the classification of the Ntokou-Pikounda zone into a protected area.” Across Central Africa, gorillas face the looming threats of hunting for bushmeat and the spread of the Ebola virus, which is lethal to gorillas as well as humans. WCS is working with partners to combat Ebola, eliminate commercial hunting, and secure this last stronghold for Africa’s apes. Many gorilla conservation projects are funded through two primary programs of the federal government—the Congo Basin Forest Partnership at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Great Apes Conservation Fund at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Both of these programs are at risk of being cut in the Fiscal Year 2009 federal budget. Although the budget process in Washington has stalled, WCS is calling for Congress to restore and grow these programs by completing work on the Fiscal Year 2009 budget before the end of September. Western lowland gorillas are one of four recognized gorilla subspecies, which also include mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, and Cross River gorillas. All are classified as “critically endangered” by the IUCN, except eastern lowland gorillas, which are endangered. The Wildlife Conservation Society is the only conservation group working to safeguard all four subspecies. WCS’s conservation work in Central Africa was funded in part from admission fees to the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit, which has raised more than $8.5 million for conservation in Central Africa since the opening in 1999. Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:27:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:25078